Saying Goodbye
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: Jack/Freya SUMMARY: the continuation of my Jack/Freya series. Jack returns to Earth.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Saying Goodbye

AUTHOR: VIDZ

PAIRING: Jack/Freya

TIMELINE: Season 6, AU

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show Stargate: SG-1 are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Some of you expressed an interest in reading the continuation of this little Jack/Freya series. Took a long time, but here it is. Wanted to compress this fic into a single chapter, but unfortunately it wasn't feasible. So, you're stuck with multiple chapters.

SUMMARY: the continuation of my Jack/Freya series. Jack returns to Earth.

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The glyphs on the Stargate blinked into life as the inner circle began turning, prompting alarms to go throughout the base.

"Unscheduled offworld activation! Incoming traveler! All defence forces to the Embarkation Room!"

Running down the corridor Sam privately wondered why there was no other kind of alarm but an unscheduled activation, putting the defence forces on red alert. Even when their own people were returning, just minutes from their expected arrival, this alarm was activated. Perhaps they should just dispense with the 'unscheduled' part altogether.

She turned her head to share this thought with the Colonel, running beside her. However, only upon seeing Jonas there instead of Jack did she remember that Jack wasn't there, that he'd been gone for weeks now. They didn't know when he'd come back, they only knew he was alive because of Jacob's empathy.

When she, Jonas and Teal'c arrived in the control room and the Gate operator announced a Tok'ra IDC hope began blooming in the hearts of SG-1's remaining members. Then there he was.

One more figure emerged from the blue glowing puddle, but the eyes of the entire base were aimed into the first one, the one grinning madly.

"Stand down, defence team." boomed the General's order and the soldiers lowered their weapons "Welcome home, Colonel, you've been missed."

"Thank you, sir."

No-one noticed Jack hadn't said anything about home or good to be back, too happy they were to have him with them again.

Without awaiting for the permission from their CO they vaulted down the stairs and into the Gate room to welcome their leader and friend home. It was only when they entered the room and she heard Jonas' curious question to Teal'c did Sam recognize the other figure. Freya/Anise was unrecognizable. Gone were the leather belts that had pretended to be clothes, she was now wearing a simple brown tunic with a hood over her head and a long brown skirt. Carter's eyes narrowed. What was Anise doing here? She didn't like the woman... er... symbiot, not one bit. Or was it Freya? Either way, she didn't like them. There was just something in the way she... them... looked at the Colonel that set Sam's teeth on edge. For some reason dread started filling her heart.

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Jack couldn't get rid of the big smile that had taken over his face as soon as he had seen Hammond and the team in the large bay window. He could feel the comforting presence he knew was Freya by his side and his hand itched to reach out for hers, but not yet. It would be too public and there were people he owed the courtesy of informing in privacy first.

- Impressive. - commented Kanaan, observing the armament and professionalism of the defence team.

' Ain't it? ' agreed Jack.

Just then SG-1 skidded to a stop in front of them and Jack stepped forward to greet his friends.

"Carter." he nodded, smiling at the woman, who smiled back and saluted.

"Welcome home, sir."

Jack nodded, but now the smile felt painful. He hoped they wouldn't keep on talking about home, this was hard enough as it was, no need to make it even harder. Deftly he ignored the greeting and turned to the newest alien.

"Jonas."

Jonas nodded in welcome, still a little afraid of the Colonel.

"Teal'c." Jack finally stated and stepped forward, taking the large man's forearm in the traditional Jaffa greeting "Tek ma'te, buddy."

"Tek ma'te, O'Neill." the Jaffa bowed his head in a show of respect for a brother "You are back?"

Jack knew nothing had escaped his observant friend. Clapping him on one massive shoulder he evaded "We'll talk about it all later."

Teal'c bowed again and that was that on that topic.

"As much I love this little pow-wow, kids, I need to speak to the Head Honcho. After our medical exam, of course." he turned to Freya, catching her simple answer of "Indeed." to Sam's fishing question of "You look different."

He had to smirk, Freya had side-stepped having to explain nicely. But that had to wait because Hammond of Texas was already waiting. Putting his hand on the small of Freya's tiny waist he nudged her forward in the direction of the lair of the scary, small doctor with the big needles.

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	2. Chapter 2

Huge thanks to **MaileS, Roeskva, Eternal Density **and **Rittanicus** for their reviews. The rest of you who read, but didn't not review, get a piece of coal

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Half an hour later, after having endured the post-mission exam with his usual grace which included whining (he had fans, after all, and he couldn't disappoint them by not playing it up a little), that amused Freya to no end, Jack and Freya were sitting with Hammond, explaining the current situation. Sans the baby thing of course.

"You sure you want to do this, Colonel? Resign and join the Tok'ra?" the disbelieving look couldn't leave the General's face, he had never heard anything as propostoreous as this. Jack O'Neill wanting to resign from the Air Force, leave Earth and his friends, simply to join a society he'd always sneered at? George wasn't from yesterday and he knew when he was being fed a lie. Or at least not the whole truth.

"Yes, sir." Jack said strongly, but the words came out heavily. Not because he would miss the AF, but because he'd miss the people of the SGC and the friends he'd made here. Yet life sometimes takes us into different directions than we expected and we must go along with it, because no matter how important the people here were to him, he knew his place was from now on somewhere else.

"What will your role there be? I can't see you going into politics..." both men chuckled at that, while Freya only nodded silently. She didn't know Jack as good as Hammond did, not yet, but she definitely knew Jack was anything but a politician.

Jack looked at her to explain, as it had been Freya's idea after all "The Tok'ra wish to establish a small strike force and... Jack" only Jack noticed the short pause before she used his first name, but the surprise at her use of his name instead of O'Neill was overshadowed by something that felt suspiciously like delight. Hammond on the other hand looked no more confused. Perhaps because he couldn't be more confused or perhaps because he remembered he'd never heard a Tok'ra being called by anything but their first name. There were no last names among them "accepted our request to train and lead it."

Hammond's eyes shot to Jack as he looked at the man baffled.

The pencil between Jack's fingers was dancing around madly as Jack evaded George's questioning gaze "They want a surgical-strike force, sir. Seems like they've finally realized that if they want to defeat the Goa'uld they have to get their hands dirty and not just play spy games, because with their strategy they achieved practically nothing in their 2000 years."

Freya sent him a look, but then turned to the General, confirming Jack's story "Indeed, General. You humans have taught us many things. In your short time you have defeated more system lords than we have in our whole existence. This has forced us to rethink our way of thinking and we realized we must become more aggressive. Because of that the Council had approved his idea and O'Neill has been asked for help in making it true. Yet we have a proposal to make to the Tau'ri. We shall need Tau'ri weaponry for this force, as ours are obviously inadequate, and, later on, more Tau'ri instructors for more teams. For both we are offering scientific and military technology, as well as an offer for a tighter cooperation between our two sides."

Jack felt the need to put his two cents in "They only have Zats and staff weapons and both are too inaccurate, have too short a range, are too cumbersome, too loud and neither has a good rate of fire. What they need are submachine guns like the MP-5SD, other silenced weapons, body armor, our camouflage technics, etc.. And of course, ammunition. A lot of it. They're willing to pay a very lovely price for all this."

Hammond could clearly see the implications and consequences of such an agreement. There was no secret that Tok'ra had always been pretty aloof towards humans and never wanted to share information, much less technology. For them to be willing to and offering such an olive branch was a huge step forward in the human-Tok'ra relations and humans would be fools not to accept it.

"I see no reason why your generous offer would not be accepted, Freya, but unfortunately I don't have the authority to sign such an agreement."

Freya nodded "I thought as much, for neither do I have such a power. I am here to merely..." she paused, uncertain "How do you Tau'ri say?" She searched for the phrase, but could not remember it.

"Feel things out if this agreement would be accepted." supplied Jack quickly and Freya nodded, thanking him.

Hammond observed them. There was something strange going on here, but he could not put a finger on it."I will contact my superiors with your proposal immediately and I can assure you, you will be hearing from us soon. Such a treaty between our two people is too good to pass up."

Freya and Jack nodded satisfied as Hammond observed them closely before he went back to the matter at hand "As much as it pains me to do this, your retirement is accepted, Colonel. I hate losing such an excellent officer and leader as you, not to mention a friend, but I can see your path in life separates here from ours. SG-1 will be disbanded." off Jack's shocked look he explained "With both Doctor Jackson and you gone it makes no sense to keep it, not with only half a team, it would never be the same. Carter is not yet ready for promotion, much less command of such an important team, so I can't give it to her and I don't want another Bauer or Makepeace situation on my hands. Major Carter, Teal'c and Jonas Quinn will be either reassigned to other teams or transferred to a planet-side position, the choice will be theirs."

The older man's features softened as he now spoke as a friend "You'll be missed, Jack. Don't be a stranger."

"I won't, George." Jack promised, then rememberd something "Oh, I have one last favor to ask."

"Yes?" Hammond was now really curious, he couldn't remember the last time Jack had asked for a personal favor.

"Can you create an identity for Freya? A real one, not fake, and with everything that goes with it, the whole nine yards."

The surprised look on the bald General's face was easy to interpret.

"We have two weeks off and I wanna show her a little of Earth and it would be better if she had a real identity."

"Consider it done." the General looked at Freya as he stood "Freya, if you'll follow me we'll get the paperwork started immediately."

"Thank you, General." she smiled.

"And in the meantime I'll let Carter and T know about my retirement." turning to Freya he told her privately "I'll see you as soon as I'm done, I'll come find you."

Freya watched him go with a heavy heart, her hand unconsciously migrating to her still flat belly. She knew he was committed to her and their baby, but still... Carter was the woman he would've rather died than lived without years ago.

Freya could only hope that was no longer true.

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	3. Chapter 3

Terribly sorry it took this long to get this updated, but I had serious issues with this chapter. In the end I ended up deleting the problematic parts, something I'm berating myself for not having done earlier.

I hope you're still sticking with it, though.

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Sam was barely paying attention to what she was doing, too busy thinking back to what had happened just a short while ago in the Gate room. The Colonel had returned after weeks of being incommunicado.

And he wasn't alone.

Oh no... he had brought someone with him, someone Sam wasn't happy to see.

In her opinion the Colonel would've done just as well to have left Freya and Anise where he'd found them and not have dragged her... them... whatever... with him.

Unaware she had started gritting her teeth, Sam stabbed at the machine in front of her with the screwdriver angrily. Then, when it beeped in protest, she growled and stabbed even more viciously, her fury at the beautiful Tok'ra and Jack's ease with the woman barely repressed.

As he stood there by the blast-door, watching her work, a small wave of sadness washed over Jack.

- Major Carter means much to you, doesn't she? -

' The entire SG-1 is important to me. I care about Teal'c and Daniel too.' he denied, but his little passenger saw right through him.

- I did not mean it that way. - was the persistent voice in his head - You care about the Major differently than for the others. -

Lying to someone who can read your thoughts is usually pretty hard. One can try though. This time, however, Jack just didn't have the energy to.

' I did. Once. She was my life, a life without her was worse than death. I believed she felt the same. For a while I even thought she was to be my second chance. I was wrong on both parts. But that's the past now.' he sighed mentally.

- Are you sure? - the voice was dubious and demanding. He wouldn't allow Jack to hurt Freya if Jack was still undecided about his feelings.

Yet he was pleasantly surprised when Jack didn't even hesitate ' Yes. Carter is the past. My future is elsewhere.' Unbidden, an image of Freya smiling at him popped into his mind. Jack could feel approval and contentness radiating from his hitch-hiker.

- We are more alike than you want to admit, O'Neill. -

' Perhaps.' Jack conceded. Kanaan left it at that, counting his victories and knowing it would've been foolish to press for more.

Jack took a deep breath, summoning the courage to close a chapter of his life for good so he could open a new one. A chapter he hoped would be a long one. Knocking on the steel door-frame he entered the room

"Carter? You got a moment?"

The woman on the chair jerked, her head whipping around and startled eyes lighting on the intruder. When she saw who it was she softened, cheering innerly over the fact that he was with her and not with Freya.

"Sure, sir." she sent him a smile, but then stiffened when she finally sensed something "Sir?" Sam asked unsurely, while secretly reaching under her desk for the alarm-button and cursing her previous thoughts that had occupied her too much to notice it "I'm sensing a symbiote in you."

"I've got a snake, remember?" Jack snarked.

- I love you too. - shot Kanaan back sarcastically.

"You do?" Sam quickly caught herself and for a moment Jack was afraid Kanaan had spoken outloud, making Carter think they were meant sincerely for her. He let out a hidden exhale when she corrected her inquiry, making him know what she meant "I mean, I thought you would've given it back by now. If you're still blended, then how..."

Jack cut her off "That's why I'm here."

A sense of foreboding suddenly became stronger "Oh." she said, putting her work down. Turning to Jack she gave him her full attention. It still took him a while to find the right words and as usual when it came to heart-to-heart conversations he stalled.

"I just talked to the General."

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	4. Chapter 4

First off, disclaimer: I'll really need your feedback on this chapter. Believe it or not, but writing a character regretting something is a minefield because too easily it can be interpreted as bashing by readers. I'm honestly trying to stay away from Sam-bashing, while having Sam take her half of responsibility for no relationship between her and Jack, so constructive feedback if I managed it or how I could make it better, is extremely appreciated.

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Sam listened attentively

"He accepted my retirement." Jack let out a big breath, saying the next few words for the first time outloud "I'm leaving the Air Force." Strange, they didn't sound so scary anymore "Probably for the last time."

Sam's jaw dropped and her heart stopped ' What!? He's leaving m... the Air Force? '

"I wanted you to be the first to know." his eyes refused to meet hers "And I wanted to tell you in private. It's the least you deserve."

"But... But... Why?" she finally managed to stammer out, feeling faint.

"I.... ah..." he rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortably "They don't have another host for Kanaan yet, so he's gonna stick around for a while more. And the Tok'ra... well, they made me an offer I really couldn't refuse." he trailed off and winced at the cliche.

Carter was looking up at him with doubt in her eyes. If there was one thing Jack O'Neill was known for, it was the ease of saying 'no' to people who were proposing something to him.

"There's more." she surmissed confidently.

Jack sighed, closing his eyes in defeat. Sure, he and Carter had hardly spent any time together off-duty without Teal'c and Daniel over the years, but she could still read him due to their time as team-mates. The real problem here was, how much to tell without hurting her more than necessary.

"Things... happened." he refused to meet her gaze, knowing he wouldn't be able to continue if he did. Saying _it _ would go against their agreement, but he forced himself to say it, he _needed_ to say it "What you and I have is important to me and always will be, but it's time we move on. We both knew it wouldn't work." he struggled to get the rest out, Carter's growing pain infiltrating the air in the room, making it hard for him to breathe "You'd always be under my command and I would never be ready to retire to just sit at home and wait for you to come home, I would've gone wacko in that kind of life. And if I didn't retire within a year and we went on as before, then sooner or later you'd find a guy your age who would make you hum and you'd forget about me."

She started to protest, but his shaking head quieted her. He was right, her dedication to their silent agreement to wait had always been shaky and uncertain, she'd always been open for better, faster options, Joe Faxon being only one example. Besides, as long as Jack was in the military he would always be above her in rank and with the work they were doing that would always make him her commanding officer. Since she had never been and never would be willing to even entertain the thought of rocking the boat, bringing attention to them and risk slowing down her career by asking Jack's superiors for permission to be with him, as was required in such a case, they would also never be together. While she had always believed he would give up his career for her, if she was being truthful with herself Jack simply didn't belong into the life of a regular pensioner. The SGC wouldn't rehire him as a civilian, the SGC was a military operation and civilians were there only as occasional scientists, support personnel, and with his job Jack needed the authority his rank and status in the military gave him. The only other civilian job he could take was possibly training new personnel in off-world conduct, but even that was a part-time occupation at best, leaving him with simply too much free time on his hands. As he himself had put it, he would go crazy in such a life.

But while he had now retired nonetheless, it wasn't to become a civilian, but to keep on doing his job with the new circumstances, perhaps maybe in an even more exciting and interesting ways than before. The Tok'ra had no rules and guidelines that choked the SGC by tying their hands and forbidding more effective means of combat against the Goa'uld, they didn't have self-serving politicians or military members who wanted to make a career or just money on their account. Well, unless they were Goa'uld spies, of course. Which strangely happened quite a lot...

The SGC was torn between several missions: secure new technologies, fight the Goa'uld, fight Earth-borne enemies, maintain secrecy, maneuver through the politics, defence of the program against politicians, well-meaning or malicious, etc.. While on the other hand the Tok'ra's entire existence was chambered to insure as effective a resistance against the Goa'uld as possible. They took 'any means necessary' to a whole new level.

She knew O'Neill and if he had accepted the Tok'ra's offer then a lot of things had had to be set-up the exact way he liked it and he had to have a lot of freedom to do what he'd been tasked to do. While at the SGC Jack's full effectiveness had been repressed by the rules, but with Tok'ra that wouldn't be so and by the shine in his eyes she saw he couldn't wait.

"Ack!" Jack exclamation brought her out of her ruminations and it brought tears to her eyes noticing his familiar mock stern expression, raised forefinger and the raised eyebrow, knowing this was perhaps the last time she'd see them "Stop thinking. I can hear the cogs from way over here." again he cut off her protest, then became awkward again as he always did when it came to deep conversations "Go. Go out. Get a life, Carter. Find a guy, get married, have kids. Have a life. And enjoy it." he spread his arms wide apart, palms up, gesturing at their surroundings "Stop hiding among these walls and get a life outside them."

He rose and walked to the door, briefly squeezing her shoulder on his way by. Almost to the portal he stopped and instructed her over his shoulder, his sincerity shining through his words with his ultimately-last order "Be happy, Carter." then turned around and left her lab for what was surely the last time.

After Jack left Sam couldn't hold the tears any longer.

She'd lost him, because she'd wasted too much damn time being afraid of the regs and for her career, putting it before her own personal happiness, having believed he would always be standing in the sidelines, waiting until she'd make up her mind. Or until she'd stalled in her career and decided it was finally time for other things. Until now she'd had no idea just how much of her emotional stability had depended on him.

Whether or not she had consciously acknowledged it, she had always held him in reserve as her safe bet and now he was gone, safe bet no longer.

Something in his demeanor told her it was for good and she had a good idea why that was so, even though Jack had denied it.

It had been obvious from the moment they'd met Freya that Jack was attracted to her. Sure, there'd been that huge stumbling block of Freya sharing her body with another person, a snake as he called them, the thing that had discomfitted and put him off, but that was obviously no longer a problem. The best man she'd ever met, the best man who'd ever been interested in her... hell, who'd _loved_ her, and she admitted to herself now that she'd always known his feelings had been that deep, and she'd blown it, all for the sake of her career and her fear of being known as the woman who'd fallen for her CO, abhorring the thought of being known as "Jack's girl", as if it was scandalous, demeaning, for other people to know she was in love. He'd always in one way or another reassured her she still meant everything to him, that he would rather die than live without her, from his invitations to the cabin to small things like bringing her blue jello while she was working. She'd taken his affection and attention for granted, failing to do anything to reassure him his feelings were returned, even the occasional smiles had disappeared during the years, afraid someone would see them and that her career would end because of them. She'd taken _him _for granted, as simple and awful as that.

And now he was walking off into the event horizon with someone else, while she was being left behind.

Noticing her hand was shaking too much to be able to work and feeling her stomach clench at the thought of being at the SGC, she decided it was finally time to take a few days off and accept her brother's invitation for a visit. Maybe she'd even accept one of those blind dates he always wanted to arrange for her with some of his friends.

But whatever she would do, in the end she would obey her ex-CO and try to be happy.

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	5. Chapter 5

I've been sitting on this part for months on end and couldn't decide if it's good enough to be posted. Frankly, by now I'm fed up with deliberating and I decided to just post it, be it good or not.

So, read it and I wouldn't mind a review either.

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Walking away from Carter's lab Jack couldn't stop the self-recriminations from consumming him yet again, as they'd done so many times over the past few years. He'd always known he and Carter wouldn't work out, they were too different, wanted different things, had opposite priorities, ideas, ideals, visions, views,...

Yet what was the hardest to admit was the truth that he'd been a coward. His divorce had beaten down the last shred of self-esteem he'd had left after Charlie's death, leaving him only a shell, riddled with insecurities. He'd believed he was unworthy of love, of affection, the murderer of his own son, that no woman would ever want him again, nor did he deserve anyone wanting him, too old, too grouchy, too set in his ways, too unreliable, too sarcastic and much too responsible for his only child's demise. Unloveable. Then Carter had come along, Carter who had, after she had shaken off that off-turning female-supremacist streak, developed a hero-crush on him, the Carter he'd fallen for against his will.

His father was right, had always been right. Single men and women can't spend 24/7 in each other's company without something developing, either purely sexual or something deeper. It was the curse and the bane of having women serve on combat teams, the one reason Jack had always been against that idea, having been all too aware of what havoc sexual attraction and frustration can wreak. All-male teams were much better, no distractions. And so to make it truly ironic he had fallen prey to it himself. First there had been the typical sexual attraction of a man to a younger, fertile woman, the type of attraction dating back thousands of years. Then, after she'd proven herself to him and gained his trust, had eventually come love.

He'd failed as a serviceman and even more completely as a commanding officer by not having done anything about it, that was something he was truthful with himself about. That had been his first big mistake. He should've had a talk with Carter years ago when it had become obvious there was something developing, explain to her there was no chance for them, hell, he should've simply had had her transferred to another team and replaced by a guy, with whom there would've been no chance of developing feelings for. Yet Jack had done one of the worst possible things: he'd become complacent.

That had been his second big mistake.

Now that they were all broken-in he had a fantastically functioning team and for that reason he hadn't wanted to get rid of Carter. Breaking-in someone new was always a bitch.

And, after doing the spineless thing of giving Carter the reins to their "relationship" immediately after the Za'tarc testing (his third big mistake), he'd felt no need nor urge to actively look for a relationship with a woman, another woman, believing it was only a matter of time before Carter would give them a chance. His fourth big mistake. But the years had gone by and Carter had become increasingly colder and more distant with each month, openly accepting advances from other men, while Jack was hiding in a hole, a hand over his eyes, immitating one of the three monkeys. His fifth big mistake.

Thankfully, his excellent self-preservation instincts had prevailed in the end and he had, unknowingly even to himself, began to move on, just as Carter had. Yet, he'd still been a coward and had not talked to her, to free them both, to give them a chance to find happiness elsewhere without feeling guilty. His sixth big mistake.

He shouldn't have let it go on for so long, he should've ended it sooner, he should've PREVENTED it even happening.

In the end, it was for the best. Who knew, perhaps he would even call up his old man and say "You were right, Dad." Maybe it would even be the first step towards repairing their tattered relationship. After all, no matter what their problems had once been, a grandfather should have the right to get to meet his new grandchild, right?

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Jack's meeting with Teal'c went much better than the one with Carter, the Jaffa silently accepting Jack's decision and offer with grace that had always been his trademark.

He merely nodded his bald head and stated in his deep voice "I wish you well in your future endeavors, O'Neill. May our paths cross often."

And that was all there was to it. Then they grabbed their hands in the traditional Jaffa way and Jack patted a meaty shoulder before leaving Teal'c's small room.

After arranging all the necessary paperwork with the General and collecting what personal effects he had in his office and locker room, Jack stored everything in his truck.

He was just heading back inside to look for Freya when he saw the woman in question step out of the elevator.

Slowing his approach so he could properly admire her he had to admit she looked good. Damn good.

- Told you so! - crowed the small voice in his head - But do you ever listen? NOOOOO. You could've had this a long time ago if you pulled your head out of your mikta soon enough and not been such a hassak over Anise. -

' Shut up.' Jack snarled at Kanaan, not really wanting to think about how much time he'd wasted because of his hung-up over Freya sharing real-estate with another person. Well, thankfully unless either or both of them died violently they'd have a couple hundred years together.

- You're one giant pain in the mikta, O'Neill. -

Jack grinned to himself.

' Many people have said that in the past, but when you say it it's somehow special. '

All he got in return was a disgusted groan.

Arriving to where Freya was standing it took only a raised eyebrow to make her explain how she'd found him. He simply loved how in-tune they'd grown over the past few weeks, not caring to analyze whether it was because they were both hosts or because they were developing a connection on another level.

"One of your underlings had observed you enter the vertical transport." he guessed she meant the elevator.

"Yeah, I had to put some stuff in the truck." checking her out he inquired "You all set?"

"Indeed."

Jack steered them in the direction of his truck, curious "Where did you get the dress?"

"According to General Hammond they have clothing ready for..." she stopped, realizing people around them didn't know about the SGC, and modified her speech "... for visitors and offered I could borrow some." again she adjusted the dress, raising Jack's eyebrows even higher "Unfortunately it seems this dress is a little tight, but it was the only one that fit well enough."

Grimacing slightly she tugged at the bodice that was too tight and was squishing her breasts. Yeah, he couldn't help but notice. After all, they were about to pop out of her neckline, the chest area too small to accommodate them. The thing was, Freya had selected a dress that fit her body size, but unfortunately women as slim as she were usually the hunger victims currently so modern with the fashion industry and young girls/women, which also meant they had no breasts to speak off. And definitely not Tok'ra hosts who could rely on their symbiotes to keep their bodies in top shape. Since the dress had been made to fit _them _and not a woman slim through a strictly controlled diet, regular exercise and a symbiote, and since Freya was from the start genetically more gifted than the average woman, the dress didn't have enough room in the chest area.

Jack grimaced sympathetically. While he didn't know that exact feeling he did know what it felt like when something was too tight when it wasn't supposed to be. There was the comforting, comfortable tightness of the flak-jacket on your body and there was that numbing, uncomfortable feeling of underwear a size or two too small. Opening the shotgun door for Freya he helped her into the truck already knowing what the first order of business was.

Inwardly he sighed, while he'd always hated going shopping with Sara, he knew this was one clothes-buying-trip he wouldn't be able to back out of. Shouldn't, even. Freya was neither native to the city, not knowing where the malls were, nor was she a native to the planet, didn't know it's customs, didn't have any money and didn't even know the value of money or if a certain price was too big or opportunistically small. He'd definitely have to go with her because she had nothing at all to wear.

First order of business would be some light summer dresses, shorts, T-shirts, shoes, toiletries, everything she'd need for the next 2 weeks, and of course underwear, since as he had discovered the Tok'ra didn't have underwear, which was the first store they'd visit. Due to the same reason Freya had problems with the dress it would also be pretty challenging to find bras with Freya's small under-breast-circumference and large cup. That also gave Jack a pause. He had never before realized that large breasts could be inconvenient for their owner.

' But,' his testosterones added ' whatever the trouble they are, they're SOOOO worth it.'

Yet considering Freya had never worn a bra in her life, buying them wouldn't be necessary. At least one problem less...

Too bad it was only one, because with everything they'd have to spend time on buying and doing, it would be at least another day before they could start their vacation.

Something Jack wasn't happy about because he wanted to start it ASAP. After the claustrophobic underground tunnels of the Tok'ra base he needed to be outside, in the nature, not in some stuffy mall, surrounded by thousands of people. And then the last day would be spent getting the house ready for Teal'c to move in as he had agreed to. Teal'c would get the guest room that Jack had remodelled a few years back, nearly doubling it's size and adding a private bathroom. The stoic dark man would be living in Jack's house and using his truck for free of course, his only payment being his presence that would keep away potential burglars, looters and squatters.

By this time they'd arrived at the final checkpoint at the main gates. Taking Freya's ID from her to give it to the guard, hoping all the clearances had already gone through and Freya was in the computer, he noticed the name on her shiny-new ID before passing it to the guard.

"Freya O'Neill?" he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Freya blushed and whispered "Where I come from we have no last names and I suspected Anise would be too uncommon. O'Neill was the only name I could think of when they asked me to choose."

"Makes sense." Jack mused, but then Freya's new name birthed an idea. Screw it... in for a penny, in for a pound... They had already decided to raise the kid together, so...

"What do you think of eloping?"

That way he'd at least do _something_ right... getting married before the kid came. Jack was a traditionalist through and through, had firmly set ideas of how things should be and their not being married when they'd created a baby had been bugging him. A lot.

Freya looked at him quizzically "I do not know what... eloping... means." she thought for a second and then her face cleared as a decision was reached "But I should like to try it."

Jack chuckled, put their IDs in the center-console when the guard returned them and put his hand on her toned thigh, squeezing gently "Well, eloping is..."

They drove off, leaving a lone guard shaking his head at the kookieness that were officers.

The blond one was pretty hot though.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

**Reviews are love. **


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